Effects of Wetland Management and Associated Abiotic Processes on Rare Plant Communities of Spring-fed Arid Wetlands at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge 2019-2020

This dataset consists of three datafiles: 1) vegetation, 2) abiotic factors, and 3) groundwater levels. Vegetation data were collected twice per month between July and September of 2019 and 2020. Data was collected by establishing 1m x 1m subplots within 12 5m-radius sampling plots distributed across the management units of Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Subplots were established to represent plot-level vegetation structure and facilitate estimates of rare plant relative abundance. The abiotic factors dataset includes observations of surface soil moisture, salinity, groundwater quality data, and rare plant presence taken weekly between March ? October 2019 and May ? October 2020 at each established plot within management units of Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Surface soil conditions were measured using a handheld TEROS 12 soil moisture and salinity sensors (METER group Inc., Pullman, Washington). Groundwater quality data was measured using an YSI handheld multi-parameter (YSI Inc., Yellow Springs, Ohio). The groundwater level dataset includes groundwater depth data. Groundwater depth was monitored by installing an In-Situ Rugged TROLL 100 water level recorder (In-Situ Inc., Fort Collins, Colorado) in 4 wells within 4 different management units. Each recorder was programmed to conduct readings every 6 hours from March 2019 to October 2020. Groundwater level data was calibrated by installing one In-Situ Rugged BaroTROLL barometric pressure transducer at a midpoint. Groundwater data was downloaded to the Win Situ 5 software, where the data was gathered, calibrated, organized and exported as a .csv file. This dataset summarizes this information and was used for analysis.

本数据集包含三份数据文件：1）植被数据，2）非生物因子数据，3）地下水位数据。植被数据于2019年与2020年的7月至9月期间，每月采集两次。采集方式为在分布于苦湖国家野生动物保护区（Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge）管理单元内的12个半径5米的采样样地中，设置1米×1米的小样方。设置小样方旨在表征样地尺度的植被结构，并便于估算稀有植物的相对多度。非生物因子数据集包含2019年3月？至10月、2020年5月？至10月期间，在该保护区管理单元内各设置样地中每周采集的地表土壤湿度、盐度、地下水水质数据，以及稀有植物出现情况观测记录。地表土壤条件采用手持式TEROS 12土壤湿度与盐度传感器（美国华盛顿州普尔曼市METER集团公司）进行测量。地下水水质数据则通过YSI手持式多参数分析仪（美国俄亥俄州耶洛斯普林斯市YSI公司）采集。地下水位数据集包含地下水埋深数据。地下水埋深的监测方式为在4个不同管理单元的4口井中安装In-Situ Rugged TROLL 100水位记录仪（美国科罗拉多州柯林斯堡市In-Situ公司）。每台记录仪于2019年3月至2020年10月期间，每6小时自动采集一次数据。为校准地下水位数据，研究人员在其中一处中点位置安装了一台In-Situ Rugged BaroTROLL气压式压力传感器。地下水数据会被下载至Win Situ 5软件中，在该软件内完成数据整合、校准、整理，并导出为.csv格式文件。本数据集对上述所有信息进行了汇总，可用于后续相关分析。